What happend to fuse..check out pics!

[joeylea]

a couple months ago their was white smoke coming from the vents - I had no idea what it was and after 2 days it never happend again... well last night i was checking out my fuse box and I think i discoverd the source of the mysterious white smoke.. that i believe is the radio fuse - (my radio/cd is working fine though) check it out and PLEASE give my your advice on what the hell happened - and I'm wondering are those wires connected to those fuses and is there a relay missing up above their and what relays are those exactly?? thanks guys for your help!

 

 

[json3904]

a couple months ago their was white smoke coming from the vents - I had no idea what it was and after 2 days it never happend again... well last night i was checking out my fuse box and I think i discoverd the source of the mysterious white smoke.. that i believe is the radio fuse - (my radio/cd is working fine though) check it out and PLEASE give my your advice on what the hell happened - and I'm wondering are those wires connected to those fuses and is there a relay missing up above their and what relays are those exactly?? thanks guys for your help!

 

 

 

 

those wires that are there i bet are your radio wires... instead of running with the factory wires they just ran jumpers to the fuse panel....

[joeylea]

I use to have an amp and bass... I took out them out cuz the bass just rolled around in the back and get disconnected wasnt mounted down real well... so should I worry about that melted fuse?

[91PathSE]

That only happens when teh guage wasnt heavy enough, the fuse was to big and its getting hot...or bad connection and its getting hot

[sw]

few questions first

1. has the wiring at the radio been touched? i.e. has someone put in an aftermarket stereo?

2. are there any accesories fitted? like a uhf radio or moblie phone car kit?

3. do you know where those two added wires actually go?

4. have you noticed anything else electrically stop working since the smoke?

 

normally when an automotive fuse blosws you would not get that sort of damage

for there to be that much damage, there would have had to been a lot of heat, which would have been caused by a lot of current.

 

it seems to me that the was a substantial short/fault somewhere and the fuse in the fuse box blew, to try and clear the fualt, but current has come from somewhere else and has continued to feed the fault and completely melted the aready blown fuse to the point as shown in the photo.

that being said it doesnt explain how the fault would have stopped. either theres going to be another blown fuse somewhere or theres a wire thats completely burnt thru, possibly still live.

 

if it where me i would be ripping the radio out to see if there has been any 'addtions/joins' to the loom and i would also be ripping those two dodgy wires, added to the fuse box, out & working out weather they actually need to be there. if they do i would be rewiring them properly.

Edited August 11, 2008 by sw

[joeylea]

about 6 months ago the radio stopped working- so I had that fuse (the one where it is melted) replaced - radio worked again - a few weeks later that is when I noticed the white smoke.

the thing I don't understand is if that is the radio fuse how is it that the radio is still working?

 

My cousin who previously owned the truck had an amp and bass installed - so it could be that is what those wires are for - although I did take out the amp and bass.

Everything else is working fine- except for my usual starting problem with the occasional clicking noise -

[91PathSE]

the melting has bonded the wires in the back together and its bypassing the fuse....

[Red87Path]

daaaamn, houston, we have a problem

[Precise1]

Double post? Wise guy, eh?(cut and paste)

 

"Just a girl"

 

Yes, what was once a fuse is in the radio/airconditioner slot. Does the AC work? If you have an aftermarket radio, the installer could have patched into power elsewhere. If a unshielded power wire grounded that could have fried that fuse. It may have been defective and not blown as it should have, or perhaps some one put in a higher amp fuse (perhaps it was blowing). That should have been a 10 amp fuse...

 

I'd check to see if it still has current at both ends... (I can't tell if it's blown)

You are missing a 15 amp fuse in the seat/heat slot (bottom left)

I have no idea what the missing relay is, I don't have one either. It may be for something that a manual XE doesn't have/need.

I don't know why power is patched off of those two fuses, I have never seen that before...

 

B

[joeylea]

AC works great... radio works great.

No after market radio....

You say Im missing a 15 heat seat fuse.... what does that do and do i absoulty need it?

[Precise1]

Hmm, well, I believe in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I would still see if that melted fuse is blown or if current is on both sides of the connection.

seat/heat, I am guessing, applies to power seat/heated seats? Again, if there is nothing that doesn't work, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

B

[jj big shoe]

If its the fuse for heated seats, you might check under the front seats to see if a wire is pinched in the seat tracks or something. That could cause the insulation to rub off and hold the bare wire to ground. Should've popped the fuse, though... My factory alarm harness got stuck in the seat tracks one day and kept tripping the alarm and ignition kill.

 

Good luck.

[kiwipete]

Hmm, well, I believe in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I would still see if that melted fuse is blown or if current is on both sides of the connection.

seat/heat, I am guessing, applies to power seat/heated seats? Again, if there is nothing that doesn't work, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

B

I agree in part here. Even if it has power it may be shorted out.

I would remove the melted fuse and replace it with a new one. As it is there is no way of knowing if it has shorted inside, which I suspect it has. This would explain why it has melted.

I would also be looking at the wiring loom behind it as this too will be suffering from meltdown, possibly leading to other wires being melted to it/them too.

You have some work ahead of you.

Disconnect the battery and remove the fuse box to inspect the wiring loom and inspect behind it.

Edited August 17, 2008 by kiwipete

[mws]

UNLESS an oversized fuse was installed, a melted fuse box usually indicates a damaged contact or wire in the fuse box.

 

If the contacts are spread, or the wire going to the contact is severely compromised (like 90% broken) then a high resistance point results. High resistance means heat generation, even at current levels lower than the fuse installed.